Co-created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the comic book first appeared on newsstands for 10 cents a copy in June 1938.

Nearly 12 years later, a young boy on the West Coast found himself in a secondhand book store, where he persuaded his dad to loan him 35 cents to buy the comic book.

Until 1966, the owner forgot about the book, which was hidden in his mother's basement. Since then, he's been holding onto it, hoping to see it increase in value, Fishler said. He has not been disappointed.

NEW YORK  A rare copy of the first comic book featuring Superman has sold for $1 million, smashing a record set just last year.

The issue sold Monday morning is a 1938 edition of Action Comics No. 1, widely considered the Holy Grail of comic books. It features Superman lifting a car on its cover and originally cost 10 cents.

It was sold by a private seller to a private buyer, neither of whom released their names. The sale was conducted by the auction site ComicConnect.com.

The previous comic book record was set last year when $317,000 was paid for the same Action Comics No. 1 issue. This copy fetched a much higher price because it's in better condition.

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"We wouldn't have to "regress" so much if it wasn't for that weird period in comics history when EVERYTHING in comics had to be awful and bleak. Characters died, became killers, were crippled and had lots of pouches and belts on their costumes, and we, this generation of creators, represent the undoing of that." - Ethan Van Sciver.
My Batgirl site http://batgirlarchives.8m.com/

I wonder if it was Todd Mcfarlane who bought it. Either him or Chuck Rosinks from Mile High Comics.
I remember about 8 years ago the was a bigtime coin dealer who also sold high priced comics had a standing offer to buy a 9.4 cgc graded copy, if someone could find one that exists.

NEW YORK (AFP) – Superman became the 1.5 million dollar man Monday, when a rare copy of the first comic to feature the superhero smashed all previous auction records for a comic book.

The 1938 copy of Action Comics, in which Superman debuted, easily bested the 1.075 million dollars record set at auction in February for a comic book giving Batman's first outing, online auctioneers ComicConnect.com said.

The same issue of Superman's Action Comics debut sold for one million dollars in February, but that was not in as good condition as the copy sold Monday, said ComicConnect.com.

Back in 1938 the Superman comic, boasting a cover picture of the red-caped hero lifting a green car, cost just 10 cents.

"This new record will be hard to break," said ComicConnect.com co-owner Vincent Zurzolo, "because this particular Action Comics Number One is literally the single most valuable comic book on the planet."

Incredibly, the comic book's existence was unknown for 50 years as it lay unnoticed tucked inside an old movie magazine, ComicConnect.com said.

"One minute, no one knew it existed. The next minute, everyone was dying to own it," Stepher Fishler, founder of ComicConnect said.

and from a poster on CBR:

Quote:

In 1973, at a Con in Dallas, Texas, I watched as Harlan Ellison tried vainly to auction off a copy of Action #1 for $85. Eighty-five bucks, and nobody took it!

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"We wouldn't have to "regress" so much if it wasn't for that weird period in comics history when EVERYTHING in comics had to be awful and bleak. Characters died, became killers, were crippled and had lots of pouches and belts on their costumes, and we, this generation of creators, represent the undoing of that." - Ethan Van Sciver.
My Batgirl site http://batgirlarchives.8m.com/

^ Very interesting about Ellison and his copy. I tried to convince my dad back in about 1975 or so that $200 for a minty-fresh copy of either Amazing Spider-Man #1 or Fantastic Four #1 was a steal (we had been offered both at around that price), and he wouldn't budge, whining about how "no comic book is worth a weeks' pay", etc, etc, lol.

My dad picked up a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1 when he was a kid in the 60's. He's still got it somewhere, although he's never let me see it. I guess it will be mine one day.

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"You already knew this, Mallet, but you're obviously a better man than I (expect this to be quoted in a sig). " -creekdipper
Watch me squawk on Twitter: @Supermallet
Check out my vinyl collection!

When I'm rich (which should be any day now, if my horoscope is accurate) I'm going to buy two copies of ACTION COMICS #1 - one to bag and one to read.

I would have to read it. Just very carefully. I read all my keys like Batman #6, Brave & the Bold #28, Showcase #22, etc

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"We wouldn't have to "regress" so much if it wasn't for that weird period in comics history when EVERYTHING in comics had to be awful and bleak. Characters died, became killers, were crippled and had lots of pouches and belts on their costumes, and we, this generation of creators, represent the undoing of that." - Ethan Van Sciver.
My Batgirl site http://batgirlarchives.8m.com/

^ Very interesting about Ellison and his copy. I tried to convince my dad back in about 1975 or so that $200 for a minty-fresh copy of either Amazing Spider-Man #1 or Fantastic Four #1 was a steal (we had been offered both at around that price), and he wouldn't budge, whining about how "no comic book is worth a weeks' pay", etc, etc, lol.

I remember back in the 70's a comic book shop had an issue of Amazing Spiderman 1 for about $300, that was considered big money back then.

Back in 1976 Spiderman got a second series called Peter Parker the Spectacular Spiderman. I bought about 10 copies of issue #1, thinking this book would have the same value as Amazing Fantasy 15 or Amazing Spiderman 1, Boy was I wrong lol any day of the week ebay has about 50 - 100 issues for sale. Price for 9.8 is about $250-$400 but anything under that usually sells for $40-$100. The majority of issues that aren't CGC go for $10-$25 I guess a lot of kids had the same idea I had back in 76.

The reason a lot of these issues are rare is because they're the first appearance or first title for a new character, and it's hard to tell what will take off and what won't. Plus, back then, no one figured these comics would ever be worth anything, so finding issues that are in good condition are much, much harder.

__________________

"You already knew this, Mallet, but you're obviously a better man than I (expect this to be quoted in a sig). " -creekdipper
Watch me squawk on Twitter: @Supermallet
Check out my vinyl collection!

Back in 1976 Spiderman got a second series called Peter Parker the Spectacular Spiderman. I bought about 10 copies of issue #1, thinking this book would have the same value as Amazing Fantasy 15 or Amazing Spiderman 1, Boy was I wrong lol any day of the week ebay has about 50 - 100 issues for sale. Price for 9.8 is about $250-$400 but anything under that usually sells for $40-$100. The majority of issues that aren't CGC go for $10-$25 I guess a lot of kids had the same idea I had back in 76.

That was me, too! I also bought 10 issues of Shazam!

On a slightly more face-saving move, I assumed the first few issues of Swamp Thing (by Wrightson) might be worth some extra copies too. yay. Maybe I should CGC 'em.

__________________I don't want no part of your tired-ass country club, ya freak bitch!

Three times over the last six months, an old, 10 cent comic book has sold for $1 million or more. And that has a whole bunch of people frantically rummaging through their attics and basements, treasure hunting.

However, the biggest recent find—in the basement of a home on the verge of foreclosure—wasn’t the result of a methodical hunt, but rather “a very happy accident,” says New York’s Stephen Fishler, co-owner of ComicConnect.com and Metropolis Collectibles, the world’s largest vintage comic book dealer.

Fishler and his business partner, Vincent Zurzolo, will be displaying their new find at Comic-Con in San Diego. They already brokered two of the three record-breaking sales, including the unprecedented $1.5 million sale of an Action Comic #1, the legendary comic that introduced Superman to the world. That particular copy was unearthed in true, buried-treasure style, hidden in a stack of old movie magazines.

The newly discovered comic is also an Action Comic #1, and it’s also in very good condition. But in this case, Superman really did save the day.

The comic was found by a couple facing eviction from the home that had been in their family since the 1950s. After her father passed away, his daughter and her family moved in. To pay off some business expenses, they took out a second mortgage, but once the recession hit, they couldn’t make the payments.

The bank began foreclosure proceedings, and tearfully, they started packing. When, low and behold, in the basement, they found some old comic books, including a well-preserved Action Comic #1. Online research led them to ComicConnect.com, and the rest is the stuff of fairy tales.

Although it hasn’t yet been graded, Fishler guarantees that the comic, to be auctioned after Comic-Con, will bring in more than enough to pay off the mortgage. (Of course, the bank didn’t believe this real-life fairytale until Fishler personally confirmed it. Now, the foreclosure is on hold.)

__________________
"We wouldn't have to "regress" so much if it wasn't for that weird period in comics history when EVERYTHING in comics had to be awful and bleak. Characters died, became killers, were crippled and had lots of pouches and belts on their costumes, and we, this generation of creators, represent the undoing of that." - Ethan Van Sciver.
My Batgirl site http://batgirlarchives.8m.com/

The reason a lot of these issues are rare is because they're the first appearance or first title for a new character, and it's hard to tell what will take off and what won't. Plus, back then, no one figured these comics would ever be worth anything, so finding issues that are in good condition are much, much harder.

Ha! My Alpha Flight #1 will be worth millions some day. You'll see.

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Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. - C.S. Lewis